1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle guidance device and a computer program that provide various information guidance to the vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a navigation device that provides driving guidance and makes it easy for a driver to arrive at a desired destination has been installed in many vehicles. The navigation device is a device that is capable of detecting a vehicle's current position with a GPS receiver or the like, acquiring map data that corresponds to the current position through a network or from a storage medium such as a DVD-ROM, a HDD, or the like, and displaying the map data on a liquid crystal monitor. The navigation device is also provided with a route search function that, when the desired destination is input, searches for an optimum route from the vehicle's position to the destination. The navigation device then displays the guidance route on a display screen and reliably guides the driver to the desired destination by providing guidance by voice in situations such as when the vehicle approaches an intersection. In addition, some navigation devices have a function that provides guidance to parking sites near the vehicle's current position or in the vicinity of the destination.
For example, in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2001-349740 (Page 6 to Page 7, FIG. 1, and FIG. 2), a technology is described that searches from data pertaining to parking sites for parking sites at or near a destination that the user has input, then from among the search results, displays the parking sites that match what the user wants. These may be the parking sites that are available at a specified date and time, or the parking sites that match conditions such as the vehicle width, the vehicle height, and the model of the user's vehicle. The technology also acquires congestion information and vacancy information for the parking sites.